Latest Health News

15Oct
2020

Poor Brain Blood Flow Might Spur 'Tangles' of Alzheimer's

Poor Brain Blood Flow Might Spur `Tangles` of Alzheimer`sTHURSDAY, Oct. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Offering fresh insight into the deep-seated roots of dementia, new research finds that diminished blood flow to the brain is tied to buildup a protein long associated with Alzheimer's disease. Called "tau," high levels of the protein are "one of the hallmark pathologies that define Alzheimer's disease in the brain," explained study author Judy Pa. She is an associate professor of neurology with the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute and the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Southern California. "Tau tangles very closely track Alzheimer's disease progression, such that when the number of tau tangles in the brain increases, problems in memory and thinking will also increase," Pa noted. And the...

Having Heart Disease Can Make Other Surgeries More Risky

15 October 2020
Having Heart Disease Can Make Other Surgeries More RiskyTHURSDAY, Oct. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Heart patients may face a greater chance of cardiovascular complications after having major surgery that doesn't involve the heart, new research suggests. Twenty percent of these patients experienced heart troubles within a year of such surgery, the researchers found. "Our study reveals a greater likelihood of having heart problems or dying after noncardiac surgery than has been recognized to date," said study author Dr. Christian Puelacher, from the University of Basel in Switzerland. "Patients are also at risk for a longer period than was previously thought." The study included people aged 65 to 85, and those aged 45 to 64 with heart disease. The patients all had noncardiac surgery -- visceral, orthopedic, trauma, vascular, urologic,...

Americans Might Need to Pass on Thanksgiving Gatherings:...

15 October 2020
Americans Might Need to Pass on Thanksgiving Gatherings: FauciTHURSDAY, Oct. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The nation's top infectious diseases expert warned Wednesday that Americans need to consider canceling family gatherings for Thanksgiving because coronavirus cases are now surging in 37 states. Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS News that those surges might worsen if families across the country travel and gather for the beloved holiday. "That is unfortunately a risk, when you have people coming from out of town, gathering together in an indoor setting," he told CBS News. "It is unfortunate, because that's such a sacred part of American tradition -- the family gathering around Thanksgiving. But that is a risk." Asked what his advice would be to Americans making plans for the November holiday, Fauci had this to say: "I think people should be very...

Weight-Loss Surgery Lengthens Life Span, Study Shows

14 October 2020
Weight-Loss Surgery Lengthens Life Span, Study ShowsWEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity is tied to premature death, but researchers have found that weight-loss surgery can add a few years to your life. In a study involving more than 4,000 obese people, those who had obesity, or bariatric, surgery lived three years longer on average than those who didn't. But life expectancy was nearly six years less than for non-obese individuals. "Our finding will help patients to make an informed choice when considering obesity treatment," said researcher Dr. Peter Jacobson. "Most of the remaining mortality after surgery is from diseases which are preventable," said Jacobson, of the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Besides early death, obesity is associated with type 2...

Nerves May Play Important Role in Autism

14 October 2020
Nerves May Play Important Role in AutismWEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Autism may involve nerves that control touch, pain and other sensations as well as the brain, a new study suggests. "More than 70% of people with autism have differences in their sensory perception," said researcher Dr. Sung-Tsang Hsieh, an attending neurologist at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei. "For some people, even a light touch can feel unbearable while others may not even notice a cut on their foot." If larger studies can confirm these results, he said insights into the peripheral nervous system could shed light on how autism develops and possible ways to treat the distressing sensory symptoms that most people with the disorder experience. For the study, published online Oct. 14 in the journal Neurology, Hsieh's...

Is Apathy an Early Sign of Dementia?

14 October 2020
Is Apathy an Early Sign of Dementia?WEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who aren't interested or enthusiastic about their usual activities may have a higher risk of developing dementia, new research suggests. The nine-year study of more than 2,000 older adults -- average age 74 -- found that people with severe apathy (a lack of interest or concern) were 80% more likely to develop dementia during the study period than those with low apathy. "Apathy is not subtle. It's something that families can pick up on. More research is needed, but this is another potential red flag symptom of the prodromal (early) phase of dementia," said the study's lead author, Dr. Meredith Bock. She's a clinical fellow in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco Institute for Neurosciences. The...

A-Fib Treatment Reduces Patients' Dementia Risk

14 October 2020
A-Fib Treatment Reduces Patients` Dementia RiskWEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A procedure to restore normal heart rhythm is more effective than medications in reducing dementia risk in people with the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation (AF), researchers report. Previous studies have shown that AF is associated with an increased risk of dementia. This one assessed whether catheter ablation and medications for AF reduced that risk. In catheter ablation, doctors insert a tube through a blood vessel to the heart to pinpoint the source of AF, and then use radiofrequency energy to inactivate or isolate the affected area. For this study, researchers analyzed data on patients in South Korea who were diagnosed with AF between 2005 and 2015, including more than 9,100 who had catheter ablation and nearly 18,000 who...

Your Blood Type May Predict Your Risk For Severe COVID-19

14 October 2020
Your Blood Type May Predict Your Risk For Severe COVID-19WEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- There's more evidence that blood type may affect a person's risk for COVID-19 and severe illness from the disease. The findings are reported in a pair of studies published Oct. 14 in the journal Blood Advances. In one, researchers compared more than 473,000 people in Denmark with COVID-19 to more than 2.2 million people in the general population. Among the COVID-19 patients, there was a lower percentage of people with blood type O and higher percentages of those with with types A, B and AB. The findings suggest that people with A, B or AB blood may be more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than people with type O blood. Infection rates were similar among people with types A, B and AB blood. The other study included 95 critically ill...

Fewer Tiny Newborns in States With More Reproductive...

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Greater reproductive rights for women -- such as access to sex education and birth control -- are associated with lower rates of low birth weight...

Vaping and Lung Damage in Teens: What's the Real Link?

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The purported link between e-cigarettes and lung damage might be more complicated than first thought, a new study reports. Teen e-cigarette users are...
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